Words by JANE CROWTHER
Pixar’s latest treatise on childhood and the importance of play couldn’t arrive at a more timely point as governments and society wrestle with the dangers of screen time and social media. The UK has decided to follow Australia’s suit in banning social media for under-16s and the physical toys in the studio’s beloved 30 year-old franchise have big things to say about real connection, imagination and nostalgia as they battle for kid attention with a wifi-ed screen. Easy pickings, but the film also plays parental/carer heartstrings like a harp with musings on letting go, becoming obsolete and the bittersweet joy of knowing a child no longer needs you.
With lanky cowboy doll Woody (Tom Hanks) having headed into the sunset with Bo (Annie Potts) last movie, this instalment focuses on new toybox leader Jessie (a returning Joan Cusack), and her relationships with her current and previous owners. Eight year-old Bonnie (Scarlett Spears) now owns Jessie, faithful cloth steed Bullseye, space ranger Buzz (Tim Allen) and the rest of the inherited and found playthings. And unlike every other screen zombied kid in the neighbourhood she actually still plays with her toys. As Bonnie creates weddings and adventures in her backyard (whimsically animated in a hand-drawn style), the screens glow in the windows next door, preventing Bonnie from forming relationships. Concerned, her parents cave and buy a ‘Lily Pad’ (Greta Lee), an always-listening edu-tainment tablet hooked up to the web and pre-teen chatrooms. Bonnie is instantly addicted and drawn into cyber bullying, the false promise of internet friends and the yearning to grow up as quickly as possible.
Bonnie’s rejection of her toys fuels an SOS call to Woody, Bo and stunt action figure Duke Kaboom (Keanu Reeves) for some jokes about getting older (Woody has a paunch, bald spot and is indulging in mid-life crisis dressing) as well as an emotional journey for Jessie as she re-lives a previous dumping by a child called Emily. Inadvertently transported back to her former owner’s home, Jessie meets a trio of first-gen electronic gadgets: a potty trainer (Conan O’Brien), a camera (Shelby Rabara) and a GPS widget (Craig Robinson) plus a shelf full of toy horses and a squadron of Buzz Lightyears seeking their leader…
There’s plenty of gumption and toy gags to go at (Buzz riding a winged My Little Pony, drone excitement, a literally deflated flamingo in a garden ‘safe house’) and Cusack is a plucky antagonist who brings the joy. But there’s also the bone-deep sadness that we expect from Pixar – the moments that hit hard and require tissues. A nasty group-chat comment that stings, the discovery of generation love found in a hidden treasure trove, the lump-in-the-throat dedication of Bullseye, a realisation that parenting has been done well if your charge trots off without a backward glance… Like the much-loved hand-me-downs in Bonnie’s toy box, Pixar’s franchise might be a little frayed and well-used in its deployment of these narrative beats, but when it’s done this elegantly, who cares? And when the overriding message is not one of polarisation but of community – and finding your twin nerd in the world (Blaze voiced by Mykal-Michelle Harris) – it’s a film that not only feels suitable for family viewing, but necessary. Squeeze your kids and toys (however old they are) a little harder after the end-titles…
Words by JANE CROWTHER
Images courtesy of PIXAR
Toy Story 5 is in cinemas now
